


Horizon

by Nellosel



Category: Free!
Genre: Asexual Relationship, M/M, additional mention of Kou though she doesn't appear
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-09
Updated: 2014-08-09
Packaged: 2018-02-12 10:49:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,420
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2106993
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nellosel/pseuds/Nellosel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's a hot summer day in Iwatobi, so Rin decided to spend it at Haruka's, as his house is further up the hill, and, obviously, has to be a lot cooler - spoiler alert: it's not.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Horizon

**Author's Note:**

> I have already posted this on Tumblr, but thought to share it here, too?? I don't know. Enjoy?

“Aaaaah, it’s too hot to be alive,” Rin moaned, as he put his forehead against an iced bottle of water, sighing when the chilliness stung him a little.

“Of course, it’s the end of July,” Haruka replied matter-of-factly. Rin lifted his head, just so he could look at Haruka with a pouty expression on his face.

“Thank you, Captain Obvious,” he grumbled. Instead of replying, Haruka looked up from what he was doing, and stared at Rin seemingly without any emotion on his face, though it was fairly obvious that he wasn’t enjoying Rin’s sarcasm one bit. Rin sighed again, and resumed to freeze the rest of his face with the bottle.

Even so, it really was the end of July, and that meant boiling hot, humid air at Iwatobi, especially as the town was on the coast of the East Sea. Rain was scarce, but when it arrived, the weather cooled down, if only for a few days. There wasn’t anything to do in such harsh conditions, only lying around and waiting for it to be a bit cooler, so it didn’t come as a surprise to Haruka when Rin showed up at his doorsteps at the morning, just so he could find a new spot to laze around at. His reasoning was, he proceeded to explain while he took his shoes off, that Haruka’s house was much higher up on the mountain as theirs was, so, obviously, it has to be a bit cooler up here – no, it wasn’t. Later during the day, when Haruka’s phone wouldn’t shut up and he finally checked what was going on, did he find out that Gou has invited Nagisa over, and they probably were making too much noise for the older Matsuoka to endure. Haruka couldn’t help but smile at the cheerful messages and over-edited photos Nagisa was sending him.

The day went on as usual: Rin rolled around the house, trying to find a spot where it was cooler, without much luck; Haruka, on the other hand, kept to the living room, consuming copious amounts of iced tea and reading a book.

When Rin finished yet another circle of grumpy spot-hunting, he returned to the kitchen first, to grab a bottle of water from the freezer, and joined Haruka in the living room. That was when the conversation above went down.

Rin let out a noise that was very similar to a child moaning in despair, and yet again, rolled over. He put the now warming, but still cold bottle over his stomach and gasped when the chill bit into his skin. He kept to that pose for exactly ten seconds, before he rolled over again. Haruka didn’t even pay attention to him, and probably that was what annoyed Rin more.

After a few minutes, Rin scooted over and bumped his head against Haruka’s thigh.

“Pay attention to meeeeee,” he whined as he rubbed the top of his head against Haruka.

“You’re not Nagisa, you can occupy youself just fine,” Haruka said, while he turned a page in his book. Rin huffed out in frustration, but he pushed himself up into a sitting position and looked over Haruka’s shoulder.

“What are you reading?” he asked. Haruka peeked at him from the corner of his eye, and instead of replying, he closed the book to show the cover to Rin.

_The Life Cycles of Mackerels_ , the cover read. Rin laughed a little and let himself fall backwards, onto the tatami floor.

“Are you kidding me, Haru?” he asked, half-mocking, half-surprised.

“Why would I?” Haruka asked back, as he opened up the book again and started reading.

“Seriously?” When Rin didn’t continue, Haruka turned a bit towards him and looked down. Rin was making faces while he tried to hold back his laugh, which made his expressions even more hilarious. Haruka just stared at Rin and didn’t say anything.

“Are you making fun of me?” he asked after a while, when Rin looked like he was ready to explode from held-back laughter. Rin’s expression instantly fell and he looked a bit guilty.

“No, I’m not, of course I’m not,” he replied and sat up, just so he could lean against Haruka’s shoulder with his.

Haruka didn’t say anything to that either, though if he wanted to be honest, it felt nice that Rin apologized. He kept to his book, looking at the pictures, turning the book sideways to read the explanation to the graphics. Rin stayed the way he was, leaning against Haruka, and not focusing on anything in particular.

“I don’t even know why I love you anymore,” Haruka said after a while, as he was turning the page. Rin grinned and looked a bit smug as he slung his arm around Haruka’s shoulder and pulled him even closer.

“For my breathtaking looks,  _obviously_ ,” he said, sounding so full of himself that Haruka couldn’t help himself and laughed a little. He turned his face slightly towards Rin just to smile at him.

“Yeah, sure. I obviously love you for your body, because I  _can’t get enough of it_ ,” he replied, making Rin laugh out loudly in return. He let go of Haruka and laid down yet again, sprawling out on the floor. Haruka sighed and turned his attention back to his book.

Minutes ticked by. Before he could actually realize, Rin fell into a peaceful slumber. A hot, humid breeze rose from the sea and brushed through the city, sounding the wind chimes that were hung out on nearly every porch. The mesmerizing sound echoed around the valley, creating a such unique harmony that made Haruka close his book and look out onto the bright, blindingly blue sky. He decided to put his book down and take a short nap by Rin’s side. As he did so, he unconsciously grabbed onto Rin’s closer-laid hand and held it in his. Soon, when he was on the verge falling asleep, he heard Rin’s muffled voice, speaking up a little:

“I love you, Haru.”

Haruka smiled sleepily and gently squeezed Rin’s hand.

“I know.”

By the time they woke up, it was nearing the evening and Haruka’s phone was ringing obnoxiously loud. Haruka sat up and reached for it, while Rin groaned and rolled away. During their nap, Rin curled up against Haruka, so it felt quite a disturbance for him that Haruka decided now was the time to pick up the phone.

“Yes?” Haruka sighed into the receiver.

“Oh, Haru-chan? I woke you up?” It was Nagisa, and he sounded overly cheerful, much more than what Haruka could candle. He quickly pressed back an annoyed grumble and yawned instead.

“Yes, you did, but it doesn’t matter,” he replied. “Why did you call?”

“I just got Mako-chan and Rei-chan with me, Gou-chan had to go out,” Nagisa informed him, with Rei’s complaining as a background noise. “We bought some watermelons, and are now headed to your place. Rin-chan’s there, right?”

“He is,” Haruka replied as he looked down next to him. Rin was currently in the process of stretching like a cat. Haruka smiled, and turned his attention back to the phone call. “Could you pick up some other junk food while you’re at it? We could watch a movie.”

“Excellent idea, Haru-chan!” Nagisa sang, as he probably flung the bag of watermelon at Rei, judging by the shouting. “We’ll be there soon! Bye bye!~”

Then he hung up. Haruka just stared at his phone for a solid minute before he could process what he just said. He just sighed and stood up, accepting the fate he forced onto himself.

“Rin, get up,” he said, while he went into the kitchen. “Open the drawer beneath the TV and look for a movie to watch, will you?”

“Huh?” Rin mumbled questioningly, as he crawled over to the TV. “Who called, by the way?”

“Guess.”

Rin smiled to himself as he looked through the neatly stacked DVDs.

“So I should pick something that holds his attention.”

Haruka turned a little, so Rin could see his pouting expression.

“… Can’t we watch Transcendence?” he asked. Rin laughed and turned back to the drawer.

“Pacific Rim it is, then.”

While Rin set the TV and the DVD player up for the movie night, Haruka prepared some tea and other snacks, though he wasn’t sure how much the others would like the fried mackerel he was making. It was probably for him only, he guessed. He then went and grabbed a dozen pillows that he scattered around the living room; after that, he returned to the kitchen, portioned out the tea into jugs that then went into the freezer, so they would be chill by the time the others arrive.

Which happened sooner than he expected, because just when he closed the door of the freezer, someone practically smashed the bell into pieces with the amount of ringing they did.

Haruka sighed and sensed a headache approaching, while he walked to the front door. The second he opened it, a blonde bubble of beaming happiness burst into his arms and hugged him with such force that it nearly knocked Haruka down.

“Haru-chan, we are here!” Nagisa exclaimed. He was practically radiating with excitement. Haruka sighed and turned his face away from Nagisa, as if he could get away from his energy. Makoto laughed warmly, while he took his shoes down and headed for the kitchen, to put the watermelons and the other food they bought down somewhere.

“Hey guys,” Rin greeted the newcomers as he popped around the corner and reached out for a bag or two to help Makoto, who gratefully accepted his aid.

“Rin-chan!” Nagisa shouted a bit too close to Haruka’s ear, making the boy wince. Nagisa ran past Haruka and enveloped Rin in a hearty hug, bouncing on the balls of his feet while he drag-followed them to the kitchen. “So you spent the day with your boyfriend, you sneaky thing!” He said, chuckling lightly, as if he were sharing a conspiracy theory.

“No, I just wanted to cool down, and his house is further up the hill than mine,” Rin replied, ever appreciative of the practice he had with handling the younger Mikoshiba brother, as it made him oh so much tolerate. He opened a drawer in the kitchen and took out two wooden basins that he then brought out to the garden in front of the living room. Makoto put the two watermelons in and poured water around them from the nearby-lying hose.

“You can’t fool me like that, Rin-chan!” Nagisa sang, while he danced around the living room, leaving Haruka and Rei, who quietly greeted his senpais a few minutes ago – he had quite a day behind him, having to travel to Tokyo for a future scholarship interview –, to put the crisps and gummy bears and other very unhealthy nourishments into bowls. “I know you came here just so you can cuddle the day away with your sweetheart in peace! You didn’t even want to stay with Gou-chan and me, though we had the time of our lives!”

“What did ya say?” Rin grumbled at Nagisa, who just bounced away and laughed. “Us? Cuddling? In this heat? Are you out of your mind?”

“Oh, look, Pacific Rim!” Nagisa said instead of replying to Rin, and sat down, right in the middle of the pillow mountain. Rin sighed and cast a meaningful look at Makoto, who chuckled and just shook his head.

The evening went on practically as usual. Rei dozed off during the first ten minutes of the film, and Makoto volunteered to move him into a different room, in order to let him sleep. It was then decided that the night would turn into a sleepover; Haruka huffed out, seemingly annoyed, though he didn’t mind it nearly as much as he could have. Nagisa enjoyed the movie thoroughly, and, more surprisingly, when the credits started rolling, he made some very interesting, insightful comments. Of course, the others knew that Nagisa wasn’t dumb, but it was still extraordinary to bear withness.

Gaining confidence over this, Haruka tried to convince them to watch Transcendence, his latest favourite, which was albeit darker than Pacific Rim, but more thoughtful as well. While he was explaining why it would be a beneficial movie to watch, Nagisa was nodding and smiling as he slipped the Avengers DVD into the player and started it. Seeing Haruka’s baffled expression, Rin started laughing and had to hold his sides as he rolled around the floor, hysterically laugh-crying. Even Makoto started laughing loudly, though he tried to make shushing movements with his hands, being afraid of waking Rei up. Haruka proceeded to pout through the entirety of the movie, and only when Nagisa, Rin and Makoto all piled atop of him, begging for his forgiveness, did he loosen up a bit and smile.

After that, they sort of scattered around the house: Nagisa asked if he could take a bath, and after being granted permission, he did so; while that, Makoto quickly gathered up the used bowls and glasses, put them into the sink at the kitchen, and as he knew where extra supplies were kept, he went to make their beds. Rin and Haruka were left to themselves in the living room.

Rin reached out and lightly grabbed Haruka’s hand, who squeezed his ever so delicately in return.

“Did you enjoy today?” Rin asked.

For minutes, there was silence. Haruka didn’t look at Rin, though Rin was watching his face, searching for any change in his expression. Then, at the end, Haruka smiled.

“I did,” he replied.

Rin smiled as well and leaned in, to press a kiss onto Haruka’s cheek. He then let go of his hand and stood up, to grab some pillows that had to be put away.

“I’m glad.”

Later during the night, Haruka suddenly jolted awake for some reason. He tried to sit up, but couldn’t. He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, ad he tried to at least put his elbow under himself, at which he succeeded. As he looked around, he smiled warmly.

Rin was resting his head on Haruka’s shoulder, mouth hanging open; Makoto was lying on Haruka’s other side, curled up and snuggled against him; Nagisa was using Haruka’s stomach as a pillow and was basically spread out on him, Rin and Rei; and finally, Rei was on Rin’s other side, sleeping sound.

In that moment, Haruka felt completely relaxed and happy. He laid down again and seconds later, he was fast asleep.

**Author's Note:**

> [directly copied from Tumblr]  
> Ah okay. So, I just. This just came into being I guess. Title is Tycho - Horizon, ‘cause I dig that song. 
> 
> I really wanted to try writing asexual characters, as I am supposedly an asexual myself, so I did. Don’t ask why I chose Haru and Rin (it’s because of freaking Zahra and her freaking fan fiction), I don’t even ship them that much, it just happened. But then I got afraid that I might write them OOC, because I usually just use the characters as an excuse to express my feelings, so obviously, because mostly the characters are not like me, they become OOC. Well, I hope I didn’t do that here! Then, I got really afraid that I might not be portraying asexuality correctly??? YEAH, like freaking asexual here, and I’m afraid of that. Okay I’ll shut up. Because of the innuendo, that’s why I was thinking that. But… I don’t know. I do that all the time, making stupid jokes and not really meaning them? Like, I can be the biggest perv, and I still wouldn’t want to do that??? SO I hoped that would be a’right. Otherwise… This is the sort of intimacy I would love to have in a relationship, so I wrote it? Little touches, little hand holdings, small kisses on the cheek… That would be more than enough. Maybe a kiss or two? Plus cuddling. That’s more than enough. So I kind of wrote it here.
> 
> I hope you’ll like it?? Honestly, I liked writing it, so… I don’t know.
> 
> Also, when I described Nagisa a “a blonde bubble of beaming happiness”, I kind of fell in love with him. I’m pathetic. But I love that line. IDKKKKKKKKKK
> 
> Also sorry if there were any grammatical mistakes, I literally finished this at midnight and posted it, and I didn't have a mind to proof it yet.


End file.
